LONDON — Is it a splodge, an ink blot or a cat’s eye on the leather passport holder? And was that zippered pouch covered with squiggles by accident or by design?

Like other heritage brands, Smythson has undergone a 21st-century transformation as luxury morphs into artistry. The bags that had pride of place in the windows of the concept store Colette in Paris last week were not the London house’s usual fine leather goods, but something with wit and whimsy.

Enter Quentin Jones, the British artist and filmmaker, who last fall helped celebrate the Smythson Panama legacy by creating — in three-dimensional images and a few choice words — artwork celebrating famous figures from Katharine Hepburn to Sigmund Freud who had used the classic Panama diary.

For this new season, the artwork was used for a Quentin Jones capsule collection of bags and accessories — and it was as though children had been let loose to do the decorations.

“Looking at patterning and ink marks, at how shapes play, at how illustrations can become patterns and bringing that onto the bags — marks that were made quite freely start to look like pattern,” Ms. Jones says.

The history of this purveyor of luxury stationery and other goods goes back to Britain in 1887, when aristocratic wanderers setting off on the Grand Tour required a diary to note their progress and a set of crayons to create images of what they saw — a more poetic version of today’s smartphone snaps. (The Panama diary followed in 1908, a calendar and notebook printed on lightweight paper with a pliable binding, a product the company called “the Panama hat of books.”)

Image

The new collection is based on "The Panama Legacy" artwork that Quentin Jones, right (shown with Rory O'Hanlon, Smythson's design director), created last autumn for Smythson. The collages celebrated famous people who used the brand's Panama diaries.CreditNick Harvey

It is only in this new millennium that the brand has moved from leisurely grace to high-speed fashion. Vivid colors and, now, offbeat patterns have drawn new attention to its products both inside and out. The brand has the creative power of Samantha Cameron, the wife of Britain’s prime minister, and in late 2012 it added Rory O’Hanlon, Smythson’s first design director.

Then came the art attack — something that first reached fashion prominence in 2002 when Louis Vuitton linked up with Takashi Murakami, using the Japanese artist’s manga-inspired prints.

The Quentin Jones approach for Smythson is more whimsical, with a touch of the surreal. The artist studied philosophy at Cambridge University (hence her interest in Freud) and then went to Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, where she began to reinterpret the surrealist tradition with photo montage and paint.

“There’s been quite a lot of art trend happening in fashion. People like to feel tactility, the human touch — it brings another layer of work,” Ms. Jones says.

“I am interested in Smythson and its historic background,” she says. “But I like it when someone breaks that code and there is something new.”

While Smythson still produces accoutrements for the world’s few remaining letter writers and diaries for enthusiasts who prefer pen and ink to tablets, the company now offers iPad cases and smartphone covers. And it, like other major luxury houses, has had to think carefully about handbags, the ever-important contributor to the bottom line.

Image

A bag in the Smythson Berkeley collection, for autumn/winter 2014.CreditCourtesy of Smythson

While Mr. O’Hanlon has embraced the brand’s heritage, even adapting the Panama diary shape, he also has moved into different areas. Perhaps the most obvious is the envelope bag, based on the brand’s association with letter writing.

“Because envelopes are another big icon,” the designer says, “I wanted to play a little bit more, so we embossed it and it is totally lined in nappa leather.”

For Mr. O’Hanlon, the Smythson challenge is the familiar struggle between ergonomics and artistry. He solves the conundrum by injecting variety into utility. For example, a Berkeley tote from the autumn/winter 2014 collection can be carried either by hand or on the shoulder, making it both stylish and capacious. Those are qualities that the brand’s founder, Frank Smythson, might have appreciated for customers of his Victorian emporium who wanted the best in travel accessories.

The designer says that, on the practical side, he felt the need for “a good bread and butter” day bag, taking the idea of something that can be worn over the shoulder and zipped up. That utility then was softened or brightened with color: For example, on the Smythson site, a tall “North South” tote from the spring 2014 Panama collection sells in Nile blue for £550, or about $920. And the “Crossbody” clutch, which was inspired by the envelope but made practical with a detachable shoulder strap, will come in a neutral dove gray or a black and white color block for autumn/winter 2014 (£495).

For his autumn/winter 2014 collection, and particularly for men’s items, the designer chose the color cognac, that rich dark topaz shade of the liquor. And while the Quentin Jones bags have a lot of black and white, they are enriched with wine red and Nile blue.

Mr. O’Hanlon also points out that “personalization is very much the soul of the collection,” with customers encouraged to identify their purchases as the Grand Tour travelers might have done with their books. The luggage tags found on some of the bags were introduced with the spring 2014 Panama styles, and will be added to more designs in the fall.

Looking at the bright colors of wallets, key rings and even those famous diaries, Smythson seems to have taken its heritage forward — whether the inspiration has been a box of crayons or those Quentin Jones blobs and scribbles that only momentarily seem like messy mistakes.